Tag: compost

I have been spending more time in Spartanburg lately and had the chance to meet Leslie Rodgers, the Education Director and Compost House Coordinator. We spent well over an hour sitting at The Crepe Factory downtown talking (mostly) trash. And it was awesome.

Compost House is a part of Atlas Organics, which is a local company that handles the commercial collection of food waste. (Did you know some of your favorite local spots like Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery use them and compost their waste?) Compost House is the residential component of Atlas.

There are two different ways you can compost with Compost House. They offer a door-step collection, with weekly or bi-weekly options starting at $16 per month. Or you can take your 5 gallon compost bucket to one of their many drop-off locations once a week for $14/month. What is really cool is that once a month you get 10 gallons of super nutrient rich finished compost to use in your garden (or gift to a friend who gardens) once a month!

So I live in Travelers Rest and am married to a hippie who is very green. Let’s just say we already have a serious composting operation going on. When Leslie offered me a free month of the door-step service it didn’t make sense for me in particular, but then entered Hazel.

This is Hazel the puppy.

Hazel lives in a one bedroom apartment in downtown Greenville with her owner, who was a complete newbie to all things composting. I was curious to see how composting and the pick-up itself would go over in an apartment with secure access, that had limited space and with Hazel, who has a track record for tearing apart all kinds of inanimate objects. (But is really cute, so it’s okay.)

A few weeks into the service and Hazel’s owner reported back that the entire system is extremely easy. The Do’s and Don’ts of what to put in the buckets are clearly labeled on the outside. One of them fits easily under the sink. It doesn’t smell. Pick up has been effortless. And the big one–Hazel has not gotten into the buckets or even been mildly interested in them.